Richard Timothy Morgan (July 12, 1952 – October 10, 2018) was a Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives representing the state's thirty-first and later fifty-second districts, including constituents in Moore County, for eight terms.[1]
Richard Morgan first ran as a Republican for the General Assembly in 1976 and 1980 and lost. Morgan next ran as a Republican for state insurance commissioner in 1984 and lost. Morgan was elected as a Republican to the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing Moore County, in 1990, and was re-elected from 1992 through 2004.[5]
In the 2002 elections, Republican won a 61- to 59-seat majority in the North Carolina House of Representatives, and the Republican caucus nominated Rep. Leo Daughtry to be Speaker of the state House. Richard Morgan, a member of the Republican caucus, announced he would oppose Daughtry and run for Speaker of the House himself. After another Republican, Rep. Michael Decker later switched to the Democratic Party, creating a 60–60 tie. Morgan then led a Republican faction that agreed to form a coalition with the Democrats. The coalition elected two "co-speakers" of the House for the first time in state history, for the North Carolina General Assembly of 2003-2004.[6] Speaker Jim Black, a Democrat, was called the "Democratic Speaker," and Morgan was called the "Republican Speaker." A number of Republicans—but less than a majority of the Republican caucus—considered Morgan's actions tantamount to betraying his party.
Rep. Morgan was removed from the North Carolina Republican Party's executive committee in May 2004 for "party disloyalty."[7] In the 2006 election he was defeated by a Republican opponent in the primary.[8]
